It was again time for another trip, there were still some vacation days left for me. I wanted to use the All you can fly to the fullest. Wizz air has some interesting destinations and there was one not much on my list, but Marla really wanted to visit.
Getting to the island
The trip there started like always, with a long way to go. Driving from Hamburg to Berlin by bus was the first step and there were so many idiots on the bus. The aggression level was high and some drunk people were also in the bus. Not my favorite, but had to deal with it of course, at least money was saved.
At the BER airport we went to a supermarket and I don’t know why, but I had cravings for bread with garlic sauce. It was super tasty and I was getting ready for the trip.
The first flight was to Dubai, direct flight was under 120 Euros, which is great. This was the flight without our all you can fly ticket, because we would have lost some days for doing that.
Transfer in UAE
Arriving in Dubai was interesting, because we somehow had to get to Abu Dhabi. Luckily the temperature in the UAE isn’t that bad in December. First, driving super wrong with the train, before realizing that we drove way too far. We had to turn around and went after that to a huge mall, in order to get something to eat.
The mall didn’t seem as big, but wow it was! There were many different sections of the mall. One was specific for Egypt, another for Persian Style and another for Tunisia. Each section was in a different design and was a sight for itself. The walking between each section took forever and just to get to a supermarket we walked over 10 min.
Due to the long walk, there was some pressure of making it to AUH airport on time, but we still were getting some food, because of being around the whole day without really eating something. That is always the problem with cheap airlines, you are not getting free food, so bring something, buy some food for an expensive price, or starve.
Everything worked, with help of some sprint in between it. That was needed, but there we realized that it was actually quite warm, sweating a lot, but making it on time.
From dry heat to tropical heat
We catched our flight, for less than 11 Euros, to my country number 96, it was time to visit the Maldives. There is usually no chance of getting any flight close to being that cheap, but booking the ticket three days before made it possible.
To be honest, I was never really hyped for visiting this country, I thought I could just wait until it was underwater and cut it off my list like that, but the cheap flight made it reasonable to actually visit.
We had an overnight flight to arrive in the capital Male. The Arrival time was something around 8 in the morning, so it was perfect to figure out a plan, at least we thought that. We actually planned nothing before arriving, just taking some boat to some island and making it happen somehow.
Arriving in Male
Once I arrived in Male, it was interesting, because everything that the airline and the government told us to be important was super unnecessary for the staff at the immigration.
Nobody wanted to know where we stayed, if we had a return flight, or what our plan was in general.
The entrance hall was filled with stands from Hotels, in order to welcome the arriving tourists or in order to sell some nights in hotels.
I didn’t feel in the right place, but that was usually the case for me when traveling.
It was hard figuring everything out, so the first thing to do was getting some cash, in order to get around. It is saying that the US Dollar is being accepted as a normal payment in the Maldives, which is of course true, but I expected it to be not the same price as when paying in the local currency, which turned out to be actually true!
Changing Money
I went to the ATM of the airport, after I figured the exchange rate was quite bad at the exchange store and Euro was not accepted everywhere. When I wanted to get cash, some guy talked to me and offered me a better exchange rate. Usually I am aware that it could be some sort of scam.
Going with the guy and being told of getting an exchange rate of 1 Euro for 17,5 of the Maldivian Rufiyaa, it was better of what the ATM or the exchange stores were offering. Still I thought of it being a scam, so I told Marla to check it with the police.
At the end I googled with the guy the way the money looked and it was the same.
I ended up changing with him, because it was actually legit. In some places in Male you might be able to even change better. You are just not able to change the money back at the end of the trip, that is why it is not recommended.
Driving from the airport to town
For 15 Rufiyaa or one Dollar we were taking a public ferry from the airport to Male.
It was a bumpy ride, but cheaper than with a taxi. The airport is located on a different island.
Once we arrived in Male, we were walking around the harbor in order to get a boat to some random island, in order to start the trip. There were only speedboats there and no public ferries, because we were not understanding the concept at that time.
The prices for the speedboats were not even close to what I knew from friends who have visited. So I decided to reject the speedboats, the prices were quite fair though, but it was a different type of transportation.
We walked half of the island and were welcomed by a lot of trash and busy streets. Nothing you would expect from this country, but at the end that is being part of it!
We found a ferry terminal at the end of the island, to which we went. Actually we could have just asked in the airport transfer terminal, because there we would have all the options of going to islands for cheap.
Due to it being Friday, which is in moslem countries like our Sunday, the public ferries were not operating for the big distances. Also that was being found out later on.
When we arrived after quite some time exhausted at the other terminal, we found ourselves getting a super cheap ticket for 25 cents to another island. We drove to Villingili, a little island right next to the capital.
Villingili
Once we arrived after a short trip to this island, we asked at the terminal, where we could drive next. The answer was quite frustrating, because the only boat from there was going back to Male.
We tried to make the best out of it and went to the beach right next to the ferry terminal.
While relaxing there, we found ourselves in a place without really international tourists. Just locals enjoying their day off with family and friends.
We relaxed in some shadows at the beach. It wasn’t a fancy beach or something like that, but being away from the city always felt good.
Some business woman from the Philippines was talking to us. We ended up spending some time with her and her friend who was from the Maldives.
She told us a lot about her success and how we could join her. At the end there was no contact happening from her side starting from the day after, so not as important.
We went swimming together and due to respect I was wearing my t-shirt. There were almost no people shirtless and all women were covered completely. It was interesting being at such a place, but that was normal, even at the islands on which you can find tourists. There is often a bikini beach and a local beach. On the local beach, you need to cover and at the bikini beach you can wear your bikini as a woman.
End of the day
At the end we were actually staying for one night in Male, because nothing else really made sense for us. The hotel wasn’t cheap, but nothing okay looking was cheap in Male.
It was the same hotel as the woman from the Philippines, at least there was breakfast and a transfer in the morning included.
We spent time by ourselves and went out through the streets finding something to eat, which was harder than it sounds. Most restaurants offered free food poisoning with the food, like many places during my trips in South Asia.
At the end we found a decent looking one, which was super tasty as well, they helped us also to figure out how we could get to some nice island with the public ferry. The people in the hotel didn’t know about that.
It was very helpful for us to have that information.
Male at night is interesting, it is very busy and the side of the street is filled with motorcycles. Something I haven’t seen in this dimension.
We were up quite late and had a rough day infront of us, but we didn’t know about that yet!
What is up next?
Next week, you will be reading about how this trip continues and how challenging the travel budget in the Maldives can be, so stay tuned!
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